Dorn Method

The Dorn Method is a very gentle and safe manual therapy which was developed to focus on the causes of common Back and Joint pain. It originated in Germany some 40 years ago where it has become very popular due to its simplicity, the ease with which it can be learned, and its many success stories.

Dorn is a Complementary Therapy employing techniques which have been designed to correct misalignments of the spine and other joints using a dynamic approach carried out rather uniquely with full active participation of the client. The Dorn Method avoids unnecessary stress to muscles and ligaments and involves no jerky manipulation, no thrust moves or ‘clicking’ and ‘crunching’ of joints which some people fear or dislike.

It is also a self-help system, where therapists promote good posture and teach a set of simple self-help exercises for clients to practice at home, the aim being to help maintain long term health and to help prevent back pain.

One of the key and unique aspects of The Dorn Metohd is the approach used to getting joints to move more readily back into their correct natural positions and then stay there. There is no magic about The Dorn Method, it is really all based on physics, fact and common sense, and a little help from the client who rather than being a passive subject, actively works to assist the Dorn Therapist.

The correction of a misaligned joint can sometimes prove quite difficult, and a forceful manual correction might cause more damage than good. A twisted or badly seated spinal column may have vertebrae which are displaced, being held out of place by muscles, and any attempt to move the joints back into their correct positions will usually end up a fight against these muscles. However rather than forcefully trying to move the vertebrae back into place, simple Dorn techniques are employed which ‘distract’ these muscles whilst corrections are made.

This muscle distraction is achieved by asking the client to actively participate in the treatment. This involves the client either swinging a leg, arm or the head from side to side whilst at the same time the Therapist guides the joint back into its proper position using gentle thumb or hand pressure. During movement the muscles are in a distracted or relaxed state, and it is therefore much easier to realign joints without having to overcome excessive muscle resistance. The dynamic movement provided by the client working together with the Therapist enables logical mechanical principles of counter pressure and levering forces to come into play.

The beauty of this technique is that the Therapist is actually working with the client’s body, and this form of dynamic correction is therefore usually readily accepted by our bodies. This form of treatment is also completely safe because it requires only light pressure from the Therapist, involving no thrust moves. Furthermore, Dorn Method therapy does not unnecessarily stress muscles and ligaments through jerky manipulation that could overextend those muscles, and also allows the spine and joints to be adjusted much more frequently.

During or after therapy, clients are also shown a set of simple self help exercise techniques which they can take away with them to practice regularly at home. These exercises are meant to simulate the corrections made by the Therapist and to help maintain balance in the body hopefully preventing re-occurance of any problems.

Book now – Call Lynn on 082 440 9397

What does it involve?

Your Dorn Method Therapist will work together with you at all times beginning with a leg length comparison check; a high percentage of people suffering from back pain show a leg length difference often due to poor leg seating in the hip joint. Your Therapist will then make simple, safe corrections as necessary.

To help prevent future problems from re-occurring, you will also be shown how to carry out simple leg length corrections for yourself at home.

Next your pelvis is checked for any misalignment, followed by lumbar, thoracic (spinal column) and cervical vertebrae (neck) checks. Any imbalances or vertebrae found out of place are corrected as necessary using very gentle and safe techniques. All corrections take place in a dynamic way, this simply means you work together with the Therapist by moving the joint being corrected. In so doing related muscles are ‘distracted’ causing joints to slip more easily back into place, and it is this principle that helps make The Dorn Method so unique.

All corrections applied using The Dorn Method take place dynamically, this simply means a client works together with the Therapist by moving the joint being corrected. In so doing related muscles are ‘distracted’ causing joints to slip more easily back into place, and it is this principle and associated techniques that make up The Dorn Method.

The Dorn Method can also be combined with a very relaxing spinal massage called the Breuss Massage. This is a gentle massage that safely stretches, nourishes, aligns and energizes the Back. This combination of both Dorn therapy and Breuss massage help to gently align the spine and joints, and also aim to regenerate the body system in a safe and simple manner.

The Breuss Massage was developed by the late Austrian Healer Rudolf Breuss and combines perfectly with the Dorn Method. Rudolf Breuss said that there is no such thing as ‘wear’ of intervertebral disc but instead that the discs are ‘degenerated’, he was convinced that regeneration was possible.

The spine is like any other living organism, which is in a constant state of ‘stress and relief’. It not only needs nourishment and rest, but also the right amount of ‘stress’ in the form of active movements to maintain its strength and function. During the day our spine and especially our ‘discs’ are stressed and they need to fulfil their duty as shock-absorbers whenever we stand, walk or sit.

These discs are consequently squeezed and some of the liquid within gets out making the discs thinner. We are actually a little shorter in the evening compared to the morning after standing up. During sleep the spine relaxes and stretches out, and the discs can somewhat regenerate. This mechanism is altered in a negative way when our metabolism is not in balance or impaired for many different reasons.

The Breuss Massage actually stretches the spine, and acts rather like a whole nights worth of healthy sleeping. After the Breuss Massage, the Dorn Method is much easier to carry out because in this relaxed state, the spine can be more easily and painlessly re-aligned.

This combination of both Dorn therapy and Breuss massage are designed to gently align the spine and joints, and to help regenerate the whole body system in a simple way.